Online Organic Gardening Resources
Garden Websites Give Growing Advice for Flowers and Vegetables
Gardeners can discover authoritative gardening information, insightful organic garden forums, and inspiring blogs full of flower and vegetable growing advice on the internet. When gardeners build their list of online favorites with quality websites, they can instantly arm themselves with knowledge that previously came from years of reading and practice.
Cooperative Extension Offices
The USDA runs the nationwide Cooperative Extension System, which provides free garden information and literature to home gardeners, schools, and farmers. Gardeners not familiar with the services of their local extension office may be surprised to learn the scope of research-based information these experts supply. In addition to climate-specific advice on lawns, gardens, and agriculture, extension offices also provide information on livestock, nutrition, and environmental concerns, which naturally tie in to the organic gardening hobby.
Organic Farming Information
The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, or ATTRA, provides a goldmine of free articles on composting, pest management, crops, and water management. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture intended this information to benefit farmers, much of the information is interesting and pertinent to home gardeners. New gardeners and experienced growers alike can learn from topics such as, “Notes on Compost Teas,” and “Use of Baking Soda as a Fungicide.”
Organic Gardening Blogs
Blogs may not always provide the answer a frustrated new gardener is looking for, but reading garden blogs can provide comic relief to the gardener who sees himself in the story of the hapless brown thumb who fights a horde of rabbits with various predator urine products. One way to keep abreast of the newest organic blogs is by creating a Google alert, which delivers regular email updates based on a chosen keyword or phrase, such as “organic gardening.” Create a Google alert at www.google.com/alerts.
Garden Forums
Garden forums provide a necessary sense of community to those who understand the importance of such details as how quickly eggshells break down in compost, or the controversy of using GMO seeds in the garden. There is no single best online organic garden forum, but gardeners should look for a site that welcomes gardeners of all skill levels. The online versions of many garden magazines often have a discussion board, so explore these for a community that feels comfortable.
If the forum doesn’t have a moderator, it’s important that the forum members generally stick to topics salient to gardening and avoid flaming other members. Reputable garden forums should also take steps to protect their members from spam, as new gardeners looking for tips may not distinguish sales pitches from the unbiased product recommendations of other forum members.
Garden Sites
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